Serial crimes
It was a warm spring day, at noon, and the people crossing under the overpass were all senior high school students preparing for the college entrance examination. The crowd was flowing. Liu Hanxiao was standing under the bus stop with a small bag on her back. After a while, bus No. 1 arrived, and she got on the bus and disappeared from the surveillance video.
"Captain Chen, this is the only footage captured by the surveillance camera near No. 2 Middle School." The technician checked the date. "It's April 18th."
Chen An asked, "Where are the surveillance cameras near the station?"
"We retrieved surveillance footage from the entire Changping County area, and only this short clip from April 18th shows the victim."
Changping County is just a small county town, and the surveillance can only cover 80% of the area at most. Many old urban areas have no surveillance at all, and the surveillance at the entrance of No. 2 Middle School has long been in disrepair. The technicians spent a lot of effort to extract usable footage.
He patted the technician on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
After leaving the technical team, he drove back to the county public security bureau.
"Captain Chen, have some tea." The police officers from the Public Security Bureau all treated him with great respect. That's right, when someone from above comes, how can the people below not be afraid?
Chen An took the tea: "Thank you."
Then their leader said, "Captain Chen, if there's anything you need us to cooperate with, we'll definitely do our best to cooperate."
Chen An put down his cup and said with a smile, "We're all from the same unit, there's no need to be so formal." Then he sat down and said, "Tell me about the victim's basic situation."
The officer pulled out the prepared documentation and said, "Liu Hanxiao, 18, a senior in high school. Her parents work away from home year-round, and she only hurried back yesterday. The autopsy report shows the fatal wound was to the head, resulting in excessive blood loss from blunt force trauma. The preliminary estimate is that she died around the early morning of April 21st."
Chen An asked, "Have you checked your interpersonal relationships?"
"Preliminary investigations revealed nothing unusual," said team leader Xie. "Liu Hanxiao is an introvert and doesn't have many friends, but she's not someone who offends others. Her classmates all say she's easy to get along with, so she probably hasn't offended anyone."
Chen An nodded. "Team Leader Xie, you guys can continue working as usual. Don't worry about me." He stood up and walked out. "I'm going to Liu Hanxiao's school."
He came alone. Two days ago, a body was dug out from the lawn under the demolished building of Changping County No. 2 Middle School. This incident caused quite a stir in the small county town. Many media reporters blocked the school gate for interviews and reports, causing panic among the people.
As soon as the case happened, Chen An, the captain of the serious crime team, came over. Apart from public opinion, another reason was that he guessed that Liu Hanxiao might be related to a previous case, so he drove to Changping County early this morning.
After watching the surveillance video, it’s time to go to the place where the incident first occurred.
There are only two high schools in Changping County, and No. 2 High School is one of them. However, No. 2 High School is not an ordinary cultural high school. It is a school with art and sports characteristics, and it offers far more art classes than cultural classes.
At 1:30, Chen An finally saw the crime scene after showing his ID. The circled area was on the lawn of the old teaching building covered with foxtail grass. April was rainy, and there were not many traces left at the scene, which could not provide the police with many clues. It seemed that they could only go back to interpersonal relationships.
Chen An came to Liu Hanxiao's class, Class 3-4 of Senior High School.
At this hour, the homeroom teacher was still on duty in the office, and No. 2 Middle School was under police protection. Seeing him, Xu Changchun slowly stood up, still a little nervous. Although he had been investigated during this period, the person who came today was obviously different. His sharp gaze and intimidating aura made him nervous.
Chen An noticed him rubbing his hands and tried to soften his expression: "Teacher Xu, sit down."
Xu Changchun sat down again, trembling with fear: "Officer, are you here for Liu?"
Chen An said: "Yes, when did Liu Hanxiao leave school?"
Xu Changchun took out the leave slip he had saved in advance: "April 18th, that's a Wednesday. She said she was under too much pressure and wanted to go home and rest for two days."
"It should be difficult for high school students to ask for leave." Chen An leaned back in his chair casually, sending him a relaxed signal.
Xu Changchun relaxed a lot and sighed, "It's like this. To be honest, the college entrance examination is only two months away. Which school would approve leave at this time? The school leaders repeatedly told her to hold on until the exam is over, but I saw that she was really upset, so I let her go."
As soon as Xu Changchun started talking, he recalled more about Liu Hanxiao.
"Officer, Liu Hanxiao is actually a repeater."
Chen An frowned slightly: "Repeat?"
This has never been mentioned in previous documents.
Xu Changchun hesitated, as if considering whether to speak. After a moment's struggle, he finally decided to speak out. "It's like this. Two years ago, the Education Bureau issued a document stating that regular high schools are not allowed to admit repeaters. Repeaters must go to specialized repeat schools. Last year, Liu Hanxiao performed poorly and fell over 200 points short of the second-tier admission line. Considering her family situation, we're considering allowing her to study with this year's college entrance exam candidates and take the exam together. We won't mention her being a repeater to anyone."
Chen An asked, "Are there any other repeaters in her class besides her?"
Xu Changchun shook his head: "No, most of the repeaters from the previous class went to No. 1 Middle School."
Chen An said, "No. 1 High School is a key high school, right? Why would they accept repeaters?"
Xu Changchun said, "The restudy school chosen for the suburbs hasn't even been built yet. They're saying they're borrowing No. 1 Middle School's land to teach the students." He suddenly lowered his voice. "To put it bluntly, No. 1 Middle School has connections up there. They're making a huge profit just from the tuition fees from the restudy students."
Chen An brought the topic back to Liu Hanxiao herself: "You just mentioned her family. Is her family situation not good?"
"I can't say they're bad." Xu Changchun pondered what to say. "Her parents do care about her, but they often can't contact her when they need her. Every time she pays her fees, they always delay paying them for a long time. Her family isn't well off, so they didn't charge her any fees for repeating the year."
Chen An said: "I don't think it's just because of poor family conditions."
Xu Changchun said truthfully: "She has excellent grades. If she can get into a 985211 university, it will be a great publicity for No. 2 Middle School."
Chen An continued to ask: "Did she offend anyone at school?"
"Her?" Xu Changchun shook his head. "Unlikely. Although Liu Hanxiao is a bit reserved, she's very easy to get along with. She's diligent, hardworking, and filial. She's asked for leave several times because she wanted to go back to take care of her grandmother. Her grandmother has mental health issues and was lost once before, but luckily she was found. She's always worried about her at school, so I often grant her leave. The most recent time was because her mock exam scores dropped, from the top few to around 30. I asked her why, but she didn't tell me. I figured she was just in a bad mood, so I quickly approved her request."
Chen An asked, "Did she show any abnormalities in the days before she left school?"
Xu Changchun thought carefully for a while, then said, "No, she's a quiet person, and it's hard for anyone who's not familiar with her to notice anything unusual."
Chen An said, "Do you know who she's closest to in class?"
Xu Changchun reported two names, Zhou Fuyuan and Wang Yi.
After leaving the office, the two o'clock bell rang. Chen An stood in the corridor for a while, then locked onto a special figure in the crowd.
Most of the students in No. 2 Middle School were wearing blue and white uniforms, but he saw a person in a green uniform. He talked to two girls for a few words, and when he looked up, he met Chen An's gaze. The person smiled and turned to walk towards the school gate.
Chen An walked over and spoke to the two girls: "Excuse me, do you know Zhou Fuyuan and Wang Yi?"
The girl looked at him warily: "Are you a policeman?"
"Um."
"We are."
Chen An took them to a less crowded place. The round-faced girl, Zhou Fuyuan, asked, "You want to ask about Han Xiao, right?"
"Um."
They've been asked countless times over the past two days. Zhou Fuyuan said, "When Hanxiao asked for leave, she said she did poorly on the exam and was in a bad mood, wanting to go home to see her grandma. We really don't know anything else."
Chen An asked, "Are you guys in the same dormitory?"
Zhou Fuyuan shook her head, "No, but we're next door."
Chen An asked, "Has she ever had any conflicts with her classmates?"
She thought for a moment and said, "No, she's too reserved and doesn't talk much. I've never seen her get into a conflict with anyone."
What they said had no relevance to the police's questions from the previous two days, and Chen An suddenly became interested in the young man in a different school uniform.
"Who was that person who just spoke to you?"
Wang Yi's eyes lit up when he mentioned him. "You mean him? His name is Jiang Li, a famous academic master in No. 1 Middle School!"
Chen An asked, "What is he doing at No. 2 Middle School?"
"He used to be in No. 2 Middle School." He pointed to the honor roll on the bulletin board in front, "Then he repeated a grade and went to No. 1 Middle School."
Chen An glanced at his photo and asked, "What does he want from you?"
Zhou Fuyuan quickly answered, "He just asked a few questions and then left."
Chen An asked, "Is there any relationship between him and Liu Hanxiao?"
Zhou Fuyuan shook her head. "I don't know."
Chen An had a hunch that Zhou Fuyuan must know something, and he accurately captured the fleeting hesitation: "Are you familiar with him?"
Zhou Fuyuan turned her head away, and Wang Yi said heartlessly: "We are not familiar with him, but we are familiar with handsome guys~"
Chen An played with his car keys and let her go for the time being. "Okay, if you remember any more details, remember to tell the police."
Wang Yi said nonchalantly, "No problem, I'm happy to serve you handsome guy."
Chen An was stunned, and when he turned around, Wang Yi was dragged away by Zhou Fuyuan.
"Captain Chen, we just visited and learned that Liu Hanxiao opened a hotel in the old city on April 18th." The police officer had just left the hotel. "The proprietress said that Liu Hanxiao stayed there for a day and left in the evening of the 19th."
Why would a girl, after leaving school, run a hotel in a dilapidated old town? Where did she go after leaving the hotel? Home? But the station surveillance cameras didn't capture her at all. A living person had vanished into thin air after the 19th.
Chen An couldn't figure it out. "She's alone?"
Police officer Xiao Liu nodded, "Yes, the boss lady said she was the only one there."
Chen An: "Okay, I understand." Before getting in the car, he thought of the name again, "Oh, right, check Jiang Li, he's a student at No. 1 Middle School now."
Xiao Liu: "Okay."
After crossing the bridge, you will enter the central street. No. 2 Middle School and No. 1 Middle School are almost in two directions, one facing south and the other facing north. What made a high school student use this little time at noon to come and ask about Liu Hanxiao's news? Chen An didn't believe that Jiang Li had nothing to do with her.
He turned the steering wheel with one hand and turned the car around.
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